The present invention relates to a car radio system with a car radio and at least two speakers connected to the car radio.
The use of a car radio system sometimes raises problems when several different car occupants have divergent listening preferences and needs and are unable to reach a compromise. According to experience, this commonly happens when children who want to listen to a children""s audio book tape or a radio program aimed specifically at children are also traveling in the car on extended journeys. Even if, in such instances, the adult travelers are willing to set aside their own listening preferences in radio broadcasts, music tapes, or music CDs, they often feel burdened by children""s programs that do not interest them in the least. This burden is not relieved even with a car radio system having front speakers and rear speakers after cross-fading to the rear speakers, allowing the program to be heard primarily by the children sitting in the rear seats. The residual interference produced by the rear speakers is felt to be unpleasant.
One alternative is to simply provide the children with a portable tape recorder and a headset, which, however, prevents them from receiving radio broadcasts, since a portable device cannot receive such broadcasts in adequate quality within a motor vehicle. In addition, many parents do not want to purchase a portable tape recorder for children, especially not just for trips in the car. In this case, all car occupants must necessarily listen to the same program over the speakers of the car radio system.
The object of the present invention is to improve the situation of people traveling together who have divergent listening preferences.
This object is achieved according to the present invention by a car radio system in which at least one of the speakers is provided with a jack for connecting a headset plug and with a switch that can be used to deactivate playback via the speakers.
According to the present invention, the object mentioned above is achieved with the use of a headset, i.e., earphones, which can be connected by a plug to a jack of a speaker. This makes it possible to connect the headset over short distances even in the rear seat of a motor vehicle because speakers are commonly provided in the rear seat area of the motor vehicle. A method for connecting a headset to a device is known from home stereo equipment and televisions. According to the present invention, connecting the headset to the control unit of the system, in this case a car radio, is avoided because this would make it impractical to route the cable to a person wearing a headset and sitting in the back seat.
According to the present invention, the headset can thus be contacted to the speaker over a short distance for a passenger sitting in the back seat, at the same time turning off the speaker.
In one preferred embodiment, the jack is designed as a switching socket with an integrated changeover switch so that inserting a headset plug automatically turns off the speaker.
In ordinary car radio systems, speakers are provided in pairs to provide playback in stereo. Connecting a headset to only one speaker and only to its playback channel can therefore be useful only if the car radio unit is simultaneously switched to mono playback mode.
However, stereo playback via the headset is preferred. For this purpose, a particularly preferred embodiment of the present invention provides a connection between two speakers forming a speaker pair and provided to receive different stereo channels to play both stereo channels via the headset. A connection is preferably provided between the two speakers, and the switch for deactivating the speaker is inserted into the signal lines for both speakers.
Another preferred feature is that a volume control is provided on the speaker provided with a jack which can be used to control the playback volume of the headset. This makes it possible for the person wearing the headset to adjust the desired volume individually, avoiding the need to adjust the volume on the car radio itself.
According to the present invention, it is also possible for both speakers in a speaker pair each to be equipped with a jack for a headset for both channels of the speakers.
According to a basic version, both speakers in a speaker pair can each be provided with a jack for a headset connection for the corresponding channel of the speaker. In this case, stereo playback via one headset is possible only if the headset is provided with two plugs for the two earphones, and the plugs are inserted into both speaker jacks.